Promoter wants Pacquiao-Bradley fight inquiry

Las Vegas

Promoter Bob Arum said yesterday he would ask the Nevada attorney general's office "for a full and complete inquiry" into the controversial Timothy Bradley-Manny Pacquiao title fight.

Arum, who promotes both fighters, was among the many who voiced shock that Bradley was awarded the victory on Saturday on two of three judges' scorecards, giving him a split decision triumph that ended Pacquiao's 15-fight victory streak.

"The public has a right to know," Arum said. "The fighters have a right to know.

"The only way to restore fans' confidence in boxing is by letting an independent body investigate every detail of the fight no matter how big or small."

Bradley, who broke a bone in his foot during the bout, seized Pacquiao's World Boxing Organisation welterweight title.

But Filipino ring icon Pacquiao appeared to deliver the more damaging blows throughout the bout and most at ringside - and beyond - had him winning comfortably.

Advertisement

A re-match was immediately proposed for November.

However, Arum told the Los Angeles Times that he had heard from ticket brokers who said they would have trouble selling seats because fans were so flummoxed by the decision.

"The brokers are telling us if we make a Bradley re-match, no one will go," Arum said.

Todd duBoef, president of Arum's Top Rank company, told the Times he would like to see the results of polls asking fans if they want a re-match before committing to a second fight.

Other options for Pacquiao would include another attempt to make a fight with Floyd Mayweather, who is scheduled to be released from a Nevada jail in August after serving a sentence for domestic violence.

Judge Jerry Roth scored the bout 115-113 for Pacquiao, while CJ Ross and Duane Ford both saw it 115-113 for Bradley.

Nevada State Athletic Commission executive director Keith Kizer said he did not anticipate any discipline or review of Ross or Ford.

"Every fighter who loses a close fight looks at the judges," Kizer said. "I think every judge should strive to get better."

Ford told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that he "thought Bradley gave Pacquiao a boxing lesson."

"I thought a lot of the rounds were close," Ford told the newspaper. "Pacquiao missed a lot of punches and I thought he was throwing wildly."